Chapter 98

Although Francis was fully aware that the decision to assassinate was his own and that the primary responsibility for the failure lay with him, he was truly enraged at this moment—because he felt that he had been completely toyed with by that damned archer!

"That guy was right in the city! I had you search for him for months and couldn't find him, and you were led around by all sorts of fake evidence. And in the end, he was right under my nose the whole time!"

"What good are you all, a bunch of useless scum!?"

Francis suddenly gathered fire elements in his palms, and the temperature in the room rose sharply. The three subordinates' eyes widened in extreme fear—having all seen Francis angry and lived to tell the tale, they knew that when this Earl was truly enraged, he would do anything. They froze on the spot, even forgetting to beg for mercy.

But Francis clenched his fists, his angry gaze fixed on the three subordinates, and he gritted his teeth to suppress his inner rage. He struggled to control his impulsive emotions, and finally, he let out a cold snort and swung his arm. A small fireball, glowing a bright yellow, instantly flew over the heads of the three men, shattering the window with a "crack" and disappearing from sight.

A few seconds later, a muffled explosion echoed from a distance, followed by the sound of trees falling.

The three subordinates collectively breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they had escaped a disaster. However, the ensuing silence was oppressive, and none of them dared to say a word, fearing they might anger the Earl again.

"At least the people I sent out are all dead, so there's no risk of exposure..."

Francis narrowed his eyes, still clenching his fists. "I still have a chance... I still have a chance..."

He muttered to himself, frowning and trying hard to think of a plan. But after much thought, he had no idea how to find the right opportunity to kill Sally!

This failed operation directly led to "alerting the snake," and Sally would certainly not easily step outside the protection of the Temple Knights. More importantly, the Bishop would surely increase the protection and search for the instigator of the assassination.

"Master... It seems that a Chief Bishop of the 'Rose Cross' will be coming to Holier City soon. The notice was sent here a while ago."

"A Chief Bishop?"

Francis turned around sharply, fully aware of what such a position meant: it was a position just one step away from the core of the 'Rose Cross' Temple. Above Bishop Benjamin was the [Diocesan Bishop], followed by the [Chief Bishop], and then the [Cardinal Bishop], and finally the [Pope].

In the past, when such a figure came to Holier City, the first thing they did was a city-wide parade to win more believers; the second was a speech in the city square to boost the believers' confidence; and the third was to announce the latest orders from the Temple in the square, usually promoting certain bishops, priests, and monks.

As this information flashed through his mind, Francis paused for a moment. Clearly, as a "candidate priest," Sally would certainly be in the city square to receive the baptism ceremony from the Chief Bishop!

His heart leaped with joy, but Francis quickly narrowed his eyes—assassinating Sally during such a ceremony would be tantamount to openly opposing the 'Rose Cross'...

He gritted his teeth, turned around, and waved his hand to issue a new order: "Gather all the forces we can use and return to Holier City before the Chief Bishop arrives!"

"As long as there's a chance, there's always a way."

******

September 5th.

Looking southeast from Holier City, one no longer sees the grasslands and plains of the northwest, but rather a dense primeval forest with extremely high coverage.

In the modern person's mind, "primeval forests" often only appear on TV. City dwellers who want to experience them have to travel far by vehicle to find a forest isolated from the city, and once inside, there are often many artificial facilities to ensure the safety of tourists.

But in the medieval setting of "Rift," such a scenario is impossible, and even the opposite is true: "cities" are the ones isolated by the forest.

With backward productivity and a sparse population, life for the people on this continent is particularly hard. There are no paved roads between cities, and even muddy dirt roads are considered good. Not to mention the various dangers of the primeval jungles that need to be crossed.

At this time, humans do not have logging machines or chainsaws, and under the natural economy, there are no more material needs. Each region's economy is almost entirely self-sufficient and independent, with no interaction with others. In such a situation, humans are always in a struggle against the forests that threaten to engulf their cities.

Three hundred kilometers from Holier City, in the "Amber Forest," a convoy was struggling along a rudimentary forest road.

The carriage swayed slightly, the metal axle making a regular "creak" sound, and the smell of decaying leaves wafted through the air as boots trod on the soft ground. Flags fluttered, and the pattern of two roses crossed before a cross glowed softly in the sunlight.

Relatively speaking, the road conditions were already quite good, and the Temple Guards walking on it sighed inwardly—after all, it was better than the previous swamps and mud roads.

On both sides of the road, the dense jungle had low visibility, and the sky above was obscured by the lush branches of the trees, casting dappled light on the ground. Although the team moved forward in silence, the sound of the guards whispering to each other could always be heard, making the atmosphere of the team... somewhat tense.

As the Chief Bishop of the 'Rose Cross' Temple, Rubens was currently in a carriage that had just left the last fortress on the journey—Vittelburg. If they continued forward for about ten more days, when they emerged from this difficult-to-traverse jungle, they would enter the territory of Duke Angmar's Evarta.

The convoy was not small, with a total of nine carriages. Besides the largest carriage where Bishop Rubens was, two were for the accompanying priests, and the remaining six were for carrying supplies and provisions. The protective team was simple—eight mounted Temple Knights, twenty-four Temple Guards walking on both sides of the carriages, and thirty-four ordinary foot soldiers and attendants. Additionally, there were ten servants specifically serving the Chief Bishop and the priests.

It was noon, and the team stopped by the roadside for a brief rest. But before the carriages had even come to a complete stop, a strange group suddenly emerged from the side of the road, breaking the original tranquility—

Twelve cavalrymen in red robes galloped in, accompanied by over thirty irregular soldiers, shouting "Kill these heretics" as they suddenly appeared in the narrow jungle and charged straight for the Chief Bishop's carriage!

In the face of such an attack, the well-trained Temple Guards seemed to have anticipated it. They immediately raised their shields to protect the Chief Bishop's carriage, and the infantry formed a line to meet the enemy. The cavalry charged, and with the priests' completed blessing spells, they launched a vigorous counterattack—

The battle erupted instantly. Although the attackers had the numerical advantage, they posed no threat to the well-equipped and buffed Temple Guards. From the beginning, the battle was one-sided—the attacking cavalry could not cause effective damage and were helpless against the infantry's shield formation. As the eight Temple Knights launched a collective countercharge, the attackers' morale collapsed, and after a brief struggle, they fled in defeat.

The incident happened quickly and ended even faster. From the ambush to the retreat, it took less than ten minutes. Throughout the process, the Chief Bishop himself never left the carriage, only issuing the order to "engage" from start to finish. After the battlefield was cleaned up and the priests reported the situation, Chief Bishop Rubens pushed open the intricately carved wooden door and stepped out of the carriage.

A few meters away, seven or eight bodies lay on the ground, and five captives were groaning in pain.

Chief Bishop Rubens, dressed in a black and yellow robe, was sixty-two years old, with a well-proportioned figure and sharp eyes. When he looked at the bodies, it seemed no different from looking at the surrounding trees. When the guards brought the surviving attackers to the Chief Bishop, he seemed too lazy to ask any extra questions. He simply glanced at the four men, who were in pain and screaming, and casually asked, "Identified?"

The Temple Guards violently tore off the sleeves of the captives, revealing a uniform pattern on their arms: a snake coiled around a cross.

When these patterns appeared before Rubens, the Chief Bishop's eyes narrowed slightly. He then turned around silently and walked to the side, and as if by chance, he casually made a "downward cut" gesture with his raised hand.

After he left, the Temple Guards raised their swords and mercilessly struck down...

After a simple lunch, the Chief Bishop returned to the carriage. Before the team set off again, he picked up a quill pen and wrote some simple words in a thick book— "September 5th, the fifth ambush by the 'Viper Cross,' casualties..."

On this page, all the "incidents" that occurred during the journey were recorded, with the casualties of both sides noted. Clearly, such religious conflicts were already quite "bloody," but to the Chief Bishop, everything the "Viper Cross" did was just a cover for their fear of the "Rose Cross."

"Just a bunch of barbaric heretics."

Muttering these words, the quill pen continued to write a letter on another piece of parchment, with the prefix "To Cardinal Cad."

"Those heretics are constantly ambushing my team. Their casualties are always severe, but it is clear that these heretics are trying to lull me into a false sense of security. The heretics being killed now are just farmers who don't know how to fight. Such tactics are cruel..."

The quill pen continuously dipped into the ink, and the writing on the parchment was neat.

"I will continue to maintain this team size to lure them into constant attacks. For safety, two other teams are secretly following us, and one has already gone ahead to Holier City to prepare..."

"The heretics have been lying low for a long time, but this time I have the upper hand. They think their plan is hidden, but I already know it. If they act in Holier City, I will make sure they get a severe lesson."

The tone of the letter was passionate, and it was clear that Chief Bishop Rubens held Cardinal Cad in high regard. After writing and drying the letter, he carefully folded the parchment, took a wax seal, melted it, and pressed his large ring onto the deep red sealing wax, leaving the seal of the 'Rose Cross' Chief Bishop. He then recited a spell to encrypt the letter a second time and handed it to the servant outside the carriage.

The team had already finished resting, and when he lifted the curtain to look outside, he could still smell the blood, but the Chief Bishop seemed to be used to it. He simply said, "Let's go," and the curtain fell back down.

The sound of the driver's whip cracking, and the small team set off again on the journey that looked fraught with danger.